Role of Accountant in opening a company

[kaiser78]

[QUOTE=SallyPlanIT;1175194]That's a very good point. I get quite a number of new clients that have already formed their limited company and we subsequently find out that they would have been better suited to a different trading structure.[/QUOTE]

But this structure can be changed quite easily, no ?
It is easy and more cost effective to set up the company oneself without the need of an accountant, who when I was shopping around when I was setting up, were charging a substantial overhead to set the co up.

[Clare@InTouch]

[QUOTE=kaiser78;1175417]

That's a very good point. I get quite a number of new clients that have already formed their limited company and we subsequently find out that they would have been better suited to a different trading structure.[/QUOTE]

But this structure can be changed quite easily, no ?
It is easy and more cost effective to set up the company oneself without the need of an accountant, who when I was shopping around when I was setting up, were charging a substantial overhead to set the co up.

Potentially, but it may be a costly mistake. For example I've known people who've set up their own company with 10,000 shares, not realising that they have to pay for those shares. There's also the option of service addresses now - set up the company via an accountant and you may be able to use their address as your registered and service address from the start, meaning your personal address will never be freely available to the general public. Set it up yourself and your home address will always be available to anyone who wants to buy a copy of the incorporation documents.

A company will cost around £40 to set up yourself, or in the region of £100 through an accountant - who will then also help with VAT, PAYE and a bank account. That's not a huge amount extra.

[SallyPlanIT]

[QUOTE=kaiser78;1175417]

That's a very good point. I get quite a number of new clients that have already formed their limited company and we subsequently find out that they would have been better suited to a different trading structure.[/QUOTE]

But this structure can be changed quite easily, no ?
It is easy and more cost effective to set up the company oneself without the need of an accountant, who when I was shopping around when I was setting up, were charging a substantial overhead to set the co up.

As Clare has said, it could be costly mistakes. There are many accountants who will not charge for incorporations and registrations if you are using their accountancy services.

[SueEllen]

But this structure can be changed quite easily, no ?
It is easy and more cost effective to set up the company oneself without the need of an accountant, who when I was shopping around when I was setting up, were charging a substantial overhead to set the co up.

Accountant I use set my company up free.

Only a few years later did they stipulate that you had to stay with them for a year if they did this for you, probably due to people taking the p*ss.

Also I do know someone who set up their company and when they spoke to someone whose prior job was setting up companies they had to dissolve the company, and start again due to it having the wrong structure. So it's worth getting someone else who does it regularly to do it for you as it saves you money and hassle in the long run.